Safeguarding Cultural Heritage: The Role of Narrative Transmission in Preserving Mt. Isarog's Indigenous Knowledge | Chapter 1 | New Horizons of Science, Technology and Culture Vol. 8

 

Literature is the oldest means of transferring knowledge and understanding the culture of the people in a community. However, the legend of Mt. Isarog is neither widely dispersed to the community nor in the canon for reading literature and understanding culture, unlike several myths and legends about mountains in the Philippines that are in printed books, such as “The Legend of Maria Makiling,” “The Legend of Daragang Magayon,” and “Bulusan and Aguingay.”

 

Despite technological advances in communication methods and information dissemination, it is vital to understand the impact of oral literature on a region’s cultural diversity. Yet, the transferring of knowledge through oral traditions—particularly those surrounding Mt. Isarog—presents challenges in accurately interpreting local cultures, traditions, languages, settlements, and histories. The study investigates the Role of Narrative Transmission in Preserving Mt. Isarog's Indigenous Knowledge.

 

Oral literature pertaining to Mt. Isarog is accounts of the mountain residents, who mostly worked with children and relatives as farmers, tenants, and labourers on farms, whose culture and tradition are becoming disoriented and varied because of the modern cultures viewed through social media and the migration of the natives and ecotourism. The study revealed that the compiled and recorded oral literature are beneficial reference paraphernalia in showcasing the lifestyle of the old natives in the mountains; valuable sources of old knowledge of the Camarinense in cultural-based ecotourism; links between Bicolanos’ past and present cultures; and mitigation tools to more complexities in conveying meanings in educating people, sharing mythological knowledge, and conserving the region’s unique cultural heritage. Findings suggest that the Camarinense people should cultivate a strong sense of responsibility toward protecting and valuing local oral literature while also actively participating in the preservation of Mt. Isarog’s unique biodiversity through ecotourism initiatives. This should be done in terms of future studies and will be stressed by collecting information about the studies done by the tourism council and tourism educators, and strengthening local identity.

 

Author(s) Details

Maria Aurora Gratela-Caballero
Andragogy Department, College of Education, Partido State University, Goa, Philippines.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/nhstc/v8/6008